Rival questions McNerney's Stockton residency

When congressional districts were redrawn in 2011, Congressman Jerry McNerney announced he would move to Stockton and run in the new District 9.

Michael Fitzgerald

When congressionaldistricts were redrawn in 2011, Congressman Jerry McNerney announced he would move to Stockton and run in the new District 9.

"After spending so much time in San Joaquin County, it truly is my home," McNerney, D-Pleasanton, said at the time.

A congressman does not have to live in his district. Obviously, it is preferable. And it was widely reported McNerney moved to Stockton.

Redistricting was important locally because San Joaquin's previous districts were so gerrymandered that none of the county's elected representatives, federal or state, actually lived in the county.

Now McNerney's Republican rival, Ricky Gill, says McNerney never moved. And because McNerney never moved, Gill's campaign says, the congressman is guilty of voter fraud because he registered to vote from Stockton.

There is also a political aspect to the accusation: McNerney is making nice to Stockton because he needs its votes, but he is not really embracing the city. Voters here wouldn't like that.

My investigation of the accusations entailed searching records, visiting McNerney's Stockton address at various times of the day and night over a two-week period, and talking to his neighbors. Simultaneously, another Record reporter frequently drove past McNerney's Pleasanton home.

The evidence suggests McNerney doesn't live in the Stockton home but does periodically visit it:

» McNerney and his wife, Mary, still own the Pleasanton house, according to Alameda County records.

» McNerney still claims a $7,000 homeowner's exemption for his Pleasanton home. By law, only a homeowner's primary residence qualifies for a homeowner's exemption.

» The McNerneys have not bought a house in Stockton. They rented on Riverbank Circle in Brookside.

» Mary McNerney remains registered to vote in Alameda County.

» McNerney's car is still registered in Pleasanton, according to Carfax.

» The car, a silver Toyota Camry, has remained parked at the Pleasanton home.

» No cars were parked outside the Stockton home during the two-week period. The home was locked and shuttered. No one answered knocks at the door. On garbage day, the bins were not put out.

» When the House recessed June 29-30, McNerney flew home to California. The Gill campaign provided a videotape it says shows McNerney padding out of his Pleasanton home to get his paper on the morning of Saturday, June 30.

» Some of McNerney's Stockton neighbors say he appears not to live there, though some report seeing him on weekends, when he mows his lawn with a push-mower. No one reported seeing Mary McNerney.

McNerney's next-door neighbor, Suzanne Uchizono, said she had "no clue" whether McNerney lived in the house. But she'd occasionally seen him.

"He's just a normal next-door person," she said, "mowing the lawn, taking care of the yard."

McNerney's communications director, Lauren S. Smith, said the McNerneys are "in transition" between Pleasanton and Stockton. They've moved belongings. But they haven't found a renter for their Pleasanton home yet.

Smith objected to the video surveillance.

"I have to say now, Rick Gill, staking out his house, I find that pretty preposterous," Smith said.

While the congressman is not around much, because he is in Congress, Gill has not lived locally for years either, because he was away at college and law school, Smith pointed out.

She added, "The congressman is completely within the letter of the law to be registered to vote from his home in Stockton."

Voter records show McNerney registered to vote by absentee ballot from his Stockton address on April 26.

Section 2026 of the Elections Code says a congressman's home "shall be conclusively presumed to be at the residence address indicated on that person's currently filed affidavit of registration."

On the other hand, section 2031 says if a person has more than one residence, then the one with the property tax exemption "is that person's domicile."

Ricky Gill cried foul.

"Jerry McNerney's false residency claim is just one more insult to the people of Stockton and San Joaquin County, where I was born and raised," he said in a statement. "We deserve better than an outsourced Congressman who believes he is above the law."

Gill's campaign said it would file a formal complaint with the Secretary of State's office.

McNerney also issued a statement: "I've always lived in the district I represent and always will. I have gotten to know the people and issues of our area over the last six years, and want to continue to work for them and do right by them. The folks in Stockton have been gracious as I complete this transition, and I can't thank them enough for their warmth and understanding."